CORE

Chapter 12 - Usurper

"It seems as though we aren't the only living beings here," Justice stated, his eyes scouring down at the glitching buildings whose colors and rotation were inverted.

"How can you be so sure? What if this is merely a natural change in its environment?" Hero asked as he turned his head to Justice.

"Not in 1,000 years have I seen something like this not done by a magic user, that's my argument," Justice replied as he shrugged his arms before crossing them.

"But still... Magic of this caliber and type, it's not natural, right?" Hero questioned as his eyelids narrowed down.

"Precisely... And nor is it that of the Guardian of this Area," Justice uttered, surprising Hero as he took a step forward before facing Justice once again.

"What do you mean it is not of the Guardian of this Area? Are you saying someone eradicated them and took hold of this realm?" Hero spoke in an ever so slightly panicked yet composed tone.

"No, It's impossible for a Guardian to lose to any 'Civilian' within their own Areas, unless they were intentionally empowered," Justice responded as he took a deep breath.

"...Inborn Magic primarily fits that of the user's character and personality, I don't know the specifics of the Area 3 Guardian's Inborn Magic but it was not at all something like this,"

"For your Inborn Magic to change, one would have to go through an unnatural, drastic, and in fact, almost impossible change in personality, completely without intention,"

"So in other words..." stated Hero as his face turned serious.

"He's become what truly is a Rogue Guardian, and not for the same reason why I'm one myself, I take it that you know why," Justice followed up.

"And I suppose for maximum safety we will have to kill this 'Guardian' as well?" Hero said, his eyes peering over to Justice as they fully made eye contact.

"Certainly, but the question is... Could we?" Justice replied as he made a thinking gesture.

"Wait... Now that I think about it, none of the other locations were glitched out, so just what is that supposed to mean?" Hero said, his eyes widening as he may have gotten a hold of the situation, and from the look on Justice's face, it seemed like they were thinking of the same conclusion.

At that moment, something, or rather, someone suddenly grabbed both of their shoulders on the opposite side, both of them were equally startled as they quickly turned around, activating their magical aura while they did so.

"Why rise yet fall?" The Entity questioned in a distorted tone as its maniacal, almost unnatural grin grew wider to the point it reached the middle of its white and purple flickering eyes.

Hero and Justice, almost instinctually, tried to send a burst of magic to propel The Entity away, however, they were cut short as they were overpowered by a near-endless wave of magic, pushing them down like gravity and yet pulling them up simultaneously as their magical aura dissipated, and soon, everything started to glitch around them.

And eventually, both for Justice and Hero, everything turned pitch black, without a hint of sound...

It was dark once more.

There he stood in the void.

But before he could ponder once more.

Suddenly, everything flashed a bright white light...

Hero jolted to life, standing back up as he breathed deeply, closing his eyes before opening them after he had calmed down.

He took this moment to take in his surroundings, he had been transported to places before, and this should be no big deal.